45223wc@mtuxo.UUCP (w.cambre) (10/30/85)
James C. Armstrong, Jnr. says he can't give respect to the SEC because he doesn't think the teams play each other. Well they do. The SEC has ten teams. They can't play EVERYONE in a year since that would take up nine of the eleven games. Each team plays six conference games EVERY year. Some of the opponents are the same each year, i.e. Florida - Georgia, Florida - Auburn, Georgia - Auburn, Auburn - Alabama, etc. Some of the opponents vary over the years. Georgia now plays Alabama each year. They will continue this for a while. Likewise Florida plays Alabama in 10 year intervals. They played throughout the '70s and will play again in the 90's. I don't know about the other SEC teams but Florida has four fixed opponents, (Mississippi State, LSU, Auburn and Georgia) and two 'rovers', (this year Tennessee and Kentucky). So maybe Mr. Armstrong can explain what he is talking about when he says the SEC teams don't play each other.
kvk@ihlpm.UUCP (Kevin) (10/30/85)
> James C. Armstrong, Jnr. says he can't give respect to the SEC > because he doesn't think the teams play each other. Well they do. > The SEC has ten teams. They can't play EVERYONE in a year since > that would take up nine of the eleven games. Each team plays > six conference games EVERY year. Ever hear of the Big Ten Conference? Give me a break! Whoops, I forgot, Illinois did drop Minnesota this year so they could pick up Nebraska on their schedule! Face it, the good teams in the SEC don't like to play each other often because they would rather maintain their vastly overblown reputation and not hurt their recruiting in the south. Kevin Kinder ihnp4!ihlpm!kvk
nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (10/31/85)
> James C. Armstrong, Jnr. says he can't give respect to the SEC > because he doesn't think the teams play each other. Well they do. > The SEC has ten teams. They can't play EVERYONE in a year since > that would take up nine of the eleven games. Each team plays > six conference games EVERY year. Yes, and I seem to remeber a year where Georgia had a very soft conference six (skipped Alabama & LSU that year; funny they usually seem to give Alabama a miss...), finished 5-1 in those six, 0-5 in the other five, and almost made the Sugar Bowl. There are conferences who play each other, maybe giving one team a miss a year, and not the same team each year! Look at the Big 10 (8 of 9), Pac 10 (ditto), SWC (all 8), WAC (all 8!), Big 8 (all 7), ACC (all 7; when Georgia Tech is fully integrated), etc. All certainly better than 6 of 9 conference opponents! -- James C. Armstrong, Jnr. {ihnp4,cbosgd,akgua}!abnji!nyssa
pannell@dosadi.DEC (Roger D. Pannell 229-6893) (11/04/85)
>Ever hear of the Big Ten Conference? Give me a break! >Whoops, I forgot, Illinois did drop Minnesota this year so they could >pick up Nebraska on their schedule! > >Face it, the good teams in the SEC don't like to play each other often >because they would rather maintain their vastly overblown reputation >and not hurt their recruiting in the south. > > Kevin Kinder > ihnp4!ihlpm!kvk I have heard of the Big Ten Conference. It seems the Big 10 consists of Michigan, Ohio State and recently Iowa, who are the seven dwarfs?? Georgia plays Florida and Auburn every year. Auburn plays Florida and Alabama every year. I am not sure who LSUs and Tennessee's yearly opponents are. If every team in the SEC played every other team in the SEC, then teams like Kentucky, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt would never have a real chance to play in a bowl, because ultimately the stronger teams in the conference would prevail. Because of the SEC scheduling, these teams could still have a good SEC and non-conference record and be invited to a bowl game. The SEC usually does as well if not better than any other conference in post season play. How did the Big 10 do in last years bowls? -- Roger Pannell ARPA: pannell%dosadi.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA, pannell%dosadi.DEC@Purdue-Merlin.ARPA UUCP: {allegra, decvax, ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!dosadi!pannell
pannell@dosadi.DEC (Roger D. Pannell 229-6893) (11/04/85)
>Yes, and I seem to remeber a year where Georgia had a very soft >conference six (skipped Alabama & LSU that year; funny they usually >seem to give Alabama a miss...), finished 5-1 in those six, 0-5 in >the other five, and almost made the Sugar Bowl. > > >-- >James C. Armstrong, Jnr. {ihnp4,cbosgd,akgua}!abnji!nyssa I think I remember the year too. Heading into the last game of the year against Georgia Tech, Georgia would have been the SEC representative to the Sugar Bowl if Auburn beat Alabama. Vince Dooley said that if it turned out that they were the SEC representative and they lost to Tech, then Georgia would decline the trip to the Sugar Bowl. As it turned out, 'Bama beat Auburn and went to the Sugar Bowl. And as far as Georgia "giving Alabama a miss", that could work both ways especially during the '80s. In fact, if you watched the Georgia-Bama game Labor day, then you should have seen a graphic that indicated Georgia has done quite well against Alabama. Besides, I don't think you could place any blame with a certain school for not playing a certain other school. Scheduling would be handled by the conference, following the rules of that conference. No school would be able to break those rules just to get a soft schedule and the schedules would be known years in advance, so that you couldn't even predict which teams would be the best. -- Roger Pannell ARPA: pannell%dosadi.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA, pannell%dosadi.DEC@Purdue-Merlin.ARPA UUCP: {allegra, decvax, ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!dosadi!pannell
ekblaw@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (11/06/85)
The "7 Dwarves" are: Illinois winning record for last six years in a row; finished top three in the conference last three years. Purdue winning record last three years in a row; tied for second place in the conference last year. Michigan State winning record last three years in a row; beaten Michigan twice in last four years. Indiana Wisconsin winning record last two years in a row. Northwestern Minnesota had a 5:1 national record up to two weeks ago, still a strong team. Most of these folks are NOT weak. One should know what one is talking about before they make asinine statements. Unless one is very stupid, of course.
rsk@pucc-j (Wombat) (11/09/85)
The big-two/little-eight metaphor probably applied 10 years ago, when Michigan and Ohio State dominated; but such is no longer the case. Iowa and Illinois, particularly, have had strong teams in the last several years; Purdue, Minnesota, and Michigan State have been right on their heels from time to time as well. (Recall, for instance, that Purdue was undefeated in post-season play until last year, with 3 bowl appearances in 5 years.) Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Indiana seem to be the only teams that haven't had consistent winning years in the 80's (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Even so, Wisconsin gave Illinois quite a battle in the mud-bowl last year; Indiana got off to a good start this year. Northwestern is no longer 0-and-N. The conference is becoming more balanced; I expect that Wisconsin and Indiana will be improving as well in the next couple of years; unfortunately, I don't see the same thing happening for Northwestern, since their enrollment is so much smaller, and their academic requirements are somewhat higher. -- Rich Kulawiec rsk@pur-ee.uucp rsk@purdue.uucp rsk@purdue-asc.arpa
jmh@ltuxa.UUCP (Jon M. Hanrath) (11/11/85)
> >Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Indiana seem to be the only teams that haven't >had consistent winning years in the 80's (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I'm almost positive Wisconsin has had 4 7-4 years in a row. That's pretty consistent. This year the lost 18 starters, hence the bad year in the conference. 11 of last year's players were drafted by the NFL, 3 in the first round (why they only went 7-4 last year is beyond me). The Badgers have been in 3 bowls (albe-them minor bowls) in the last 4 years, and have beaten Ohio State 3 of the last 4 years, and I think the last time OSU lost to a team at Columbus was to Bucky. They are terribly young this year, so watch out in 3 years. Go Bucky! (I hate to say it but congrats Gopher fans for last week) Jon Hanrath
shari@rosevax.UUCP (Shari Nelson) (11/12/85)
> > > >Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Indiana seem to be the only teams that haven't > >had consistent winning years in the 80's (someone correct me if I'm wrong). > > Go Bucky! (I hate to say it but congrats Gopher fans for last week) > > Jon Hanrath I believe 6 or 7 big 10 teams went to bowl games last year. I know they lost most of them, but just the fact that they were respected enough to be invited says something I think. Minnesota, by defeating Wisconsin is assured of their first winning record since 1981. In 1982-1983 (the 2 pre-Lou Holtz years) the Gophers had a 4-18 record, losing 18 straight big 10 games. What a difference a coach makes!! -- ..!ihnp4!rosevax!shari a Minnesota Gopher fan forever!!! Shari Nelson Rosemount Inc. MS A32 12001 W. 78th St. Eden Prairie, Mn. 55344
rjv@ihdev.UUCP (ron vaughn) (11/17/85)
In article <241@rosevax.UUCP> shari@rosevax.UUCP (Shari Nelson) writes: >I believe 6 or 7 big 10 teams went to bowl games last year. I know they >lost most of them, but just the fact that they were respected enough to >be invited says something I think. >..!ihnp4!rosevax!shari a Minnesota Gopher fan forever!!! you can interpret just about anything in life any way you want. last year any big-10 team .500 or over wasn't on probation went to a bowl. and they got whipped all over the place. it wasn't respect for the football ability -- the big-10 really wasn't that hot a conference last year. it's the fact that at smaller bowls the bowl reps. try to pick teams that 8zillion fans will follow to the game and spend big bucks, and their home crowds will watch on tv. there was an article recently in the chicago trib about picking bowl teams. they interviewd some bowl reps who said "the big-10 states have 1/4 of all the TVs in america. and they love their football, and follow their teams." etc. etc. big-10 teams were "good picks," but this guy was talking $$$$, not football. the respect they had wasn't due exclusively to football ability. ron vaughn ...!ihnp4!ihdev!rjv